Chapter 17 #2
“Oh my god.” Ray chuckles, placing one of his hands on the dresser.
As much as Gene doesn’t like the idea of Ray going steady with anyone, he can’t help but adore the sound of his laugh.
“But anyway, let’s get back on track, with why we’re even here in the first place.
You’re my best friend, right, Gene? I don’t want a girl getting in the way of what we have. I wanna go back to how we were.”
The sparkle in Ray’s gorgeous blue eyes hits a spot in Gene’s heart.
“Same for me.” It’ll be hard for him, especially now with Ray and Carol as an official item, but no matter what, he can’t lose Ray over this.
They have so much to look forward to, with their careers, with the band, and their friendship.
“Glad we’re on the same page.” Ray smiles. “So, I don’t know about you, but I really need a shower after that show. I swear, with how much bigger that crowd was, it produced ten times as much heat.”
“For sure.” Gene laughs. “Did you wanna go first? I can wait until you’re done to take mine.”
“Uh, sure.” Ray pulls his hand off the dresser and walks over to his suitcase on the floor, shuffling through it for a change of clothes: his pajamas and some fresh underwear. He then shuts it, sets the clothes on one of the beds, and proceeds to unclasp his necklace and set it on the dresser.
Gene sits down on the armchair off to the side near the door, trying not to stare at Ray, but he can’t help himself.
Ray is nice to look at, what can he say?
There’s not much else to look at in here anyway, unless he turned the TV on, which he might do while Ray’s in the shower.
But he notices Ray hesitate—he doesn’t head into the bathroom right away.
He stares down at his necklace on the dresser, seemingly contemplating something.
“What if we took a shower together?” Ray says.
Gene’s heart jumps into his throat.
There’s no way he heard that correctly.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I said, what if we took a shower together? You said you need one too, anyway,” Ray says, with a smile this time, making sure to get Gene’s eye contact.
“Um… we’ve never done that before,” Gene states, at a loss of anything else to say as his cheeks feel blisteringly hot.
“I know. But there’s a first time for everything, right?”
“I guess so…”
“Did you not want to?”
Oh no, he definitely wants to. But imagining Ray naked versus actually seeing him naked is something he wasn’t ever prepared for, especially not right now. “I’m just… a little embarrassed, is all.”
Ray tries to not act embarrassed too, he can see, but there’s no hiding the red blush that flushes on his cheeks. “Well, we don’t need to make it weird. We’re just cleaning ourselves. Besides, we’re both guys; it’s not like I don’t know what a dick looks like,” he chuckles.
“Y-yeah, you’re right,” he chuckles as well. Ray is right; he shouldn’t be so nervous. It’s not like he’s inviting him into the shower for sex—no, they just need to wash off. Nothing strange about that between friends. “Alright. Why not?”
Ray gives him such a handsome grin. “Groovy.”
Gene gets up from the armchair and walks over toward Ray, who leaves his pajamas on the bed and heads over into the bathroom. It’s there that Gene realizes something. “Shit. All my clothes are in Maurice’s room. I’ve got nothing to change into. Unless I go back and grab some…”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to,” Ray says, turning around to face Gene. “You can just borrow some of mine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it’s all good.” Ray walks over and kneels to open his suitcase again, pulling out another pair of pajamas and underwear. He sets it on the bed, next to the other ones. “We’re the same size all around, basically. So everything of mine should fit you, too.”
“That’s true, yeah. Y’know, thinking of that, it’s actually a little surprising we haven’t already been sharing clothes.”
“No time like the present, eh?” Ray gives him a sweet smile, heading into the bathroom. Gene follows, shutting the door behind them.
Maybe they could’ve taken their clothes off by the beds, but it’s likely they’re both waiting until the last possible minute to do so as a means of stalling the inevitable.
It’s a little adorable to see how nervous Ray is—just as nervous as himself.
Ray starts by stripping off his shirt, button by button, hands fumbling a little, then letting it fall on the linoleum floor.
Gene’s obviously seen him shirtless tons of times—that’s nothing new—but with these pent-up emotions swirling around his head, he looks at him in a different light.
Ray’s lean torso is nearly completely devoid of hair, aside from a small trail below his navel that leads below his waistband.
Gene watches that area a little too intently, seeing Ray putting his hands on his fly, unbuttoning it and grabbing the edges, about to pull his slacks off—
“Are you gonna undress too?” Ray asks with a smirk.
“Oh, uh… yeah.” Gene laughs nervously. He starts with unclasping his earring, setting it on the sink counter.
He slides off his blazer, then he unbuttons his shirt, shrugging it off his shoulders and letting it all fall into a pile.
As he’s doing so, Ray slides both his pants and underwear off at the same time, finally revealing his naked form in all its glory.
Oh my god.
Gene’s cock twitches, thankfully still hidden in his pants.
“There, I’m naked. Now it’s your turn,” Ray says playfully.
Gene closes his eyes briefly, and when he opens them, he tries to keep his gaze level with Ray’s face.
“Yeah.” He tries to not think of how beautiful all of Ray’s body is—failing miserably.
How lithe and slim he is, skin that looks soft, with perfectly toned thighs—and a gorgeous package hanging in-between them.
Gene had thought he’d gotten a good idea of what Ray looked like through his tight pants, but nothing beats seeing him bare…
He fumbles with his own fly, trying not to be too obvious about his inner thoughts. He pushes his bottoms down, leaning on the edge of the sink counter for balance to reach down to pull his socks off. There, now he’s also naked. He stands up straight.
And he’s quick to notice Ray’s reaction.
Ray shifts his body slightly, partially turning away from Gene as if to hide his bottom half, bringing his hand up to his chin, almost covering his mouth.
But again, nothing can hide how red Ray’s face is.
The subtle catch of Ray looking down toward Gene’s legs, the way his blue eyes sparkle, his lips parting slightly, caught off guard.
Is he feeling… something more?
It’s a bit hard to tell whether Ray’s reaction comes from some sort of sexual attraction to Gene or simply from shyness at seeing him fully naked for the first time.
Either way, Ray is absolutely adorable. Oh, how Gene wishes he could just reach out, pull him close, and hold him tight, just like this…
“Well, I guess we should get in,” Ray says with a smile, pulling his hand away from his face to push away the shower curtain.
“Y-yeah, for sure.” Gene grabs a couple of the hotel-provided rags from the shelving next to the sink to bring into the shower with them.
Ray turns the water on, holding his hand under the shower head to check the temperature. Once it’s good, he steps over the short tub wall and lets himself get wet. He holds his hand out for Gene to grab. “Come on.”
“Alright.” Gene takes Ray’s hand, stepping into the shower himself.
They don’t stay holding hands for long, though, letting go after only a moment so Ray can close the shower curtain and also so Gene can set the rags down over the towel bar.
With how they’re standing, Ray’s the one getting sprayed on the most. He pushes his blond hair away from his eyes, now looking more brown when wet, curls straightening as the water runs through.
“Let me wash your hair,” Gene says, grabbing the small bottle of hotel shampoo.
“Alright. I’ll do yours after you do mine?”
“Sounds good.” Gene smiles.
“Let’s re-adjust a little, then.”
Gene squirts some shampoo into his palm, setting the bottle back down, when Ray grabs his shoulders.
He swirls them both around so now Gene’s the one closer to the shower head, the warm water hitting his back.
Ray lets go and turns himself around to face the wall.
And so, Gene reaches up, soothing his hands into Ray’s hair and lathering it up.
“Ah, that feels good,” Ray says. Gene curls his fingers, also enjoying the feel of his soft, sudsy locks. “I don’t know the last time someone else has washed my hair for me. Even when I get it cut, I just have them cut it, and wash it myself later.”
“You don’t get it cut that often, either,” Gene remarks. Ray’s hair isn’t as long as his own; Ray’s is cut in a shaggy, curly mop-top style that’s fairly low-maintenance.
“No. And you—I don’t actually remember the last time you went to the hairdresser.”
Gene chuckles. “Yeah, it’s been a while. I just trim the ends a little myself and my bangs so they don’t get in my eyes. But I like it longer like this.”
“You’re very handsome with long hair.” Ray turns his head slightly, looking behind himself to smile at Gene. “It looks good on you.”
Butterflies flutter and swirl in Gene’s chest. “Why, thank you. Yours looks good like this, too.”
“Thanks.” Ray chuckles. “Here, let me rinse off and I’ll wash yours.”
“Alright.” They shimmy around again, with Ray rinsing the shampoo out of his hair underneath the shower head.
Gene hands Ray the bottle, letting him squirt some into his palm, and he does the same for Gene, placing his hands in his hair and building up a lather.
Ray’s hands massaging his scalp feel absolutely delightful—it makes Gene’s heart beat fast, his chest so warm.